Section 6E of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) does not require cumulation to such an extent that the totality principle ceases to have any application. As the objective gravity of total offending increases, the degree of cumulation ordered will increase, but at some point cumulation must reduce and perhaps cease to avoid a total effective sentence vastly exceeding what is proportionate. Sentencing is not to be reduced to a mathematical equation, and structural arguments about the precise allocation of cumulation across individual charges should not, viewed in isolation, succeed on a Crown appeal.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 4 later cases that cite this judgment.